On September 21, 1999, a powerful earthquake hit Taiwan killing over 2000 people and causing damage throughout the island. The epicenter was near Jiji, Taiwan. I visited Jiji on December 2 of this year. Earlier this week another strong earthquake hit Taiwan, but it was
less damaging than the one in 1999 that devastated Jiji and other parts of Nantou County. I'll refrain from telling about the earthquake on December 26 because I haven't entirely worked that one through in my head yet. Let it suffice to say that it altered my perception about a number of things. Anyway.... here are a few photographs from Jiji. While I did see some remaining destruction from the earlier quak
e, I did not photograph it. But at some point I do hope to go back to Jiji and maybe at that time I will be able to photograph some unusual sights. The first mistake I made in going to Jiji was in neglecting to rent a scooter to ride around the town. Instead, I walked. After several hours of walking I realized that it was going to take huge effort to get back to the train station on time to catch my ride to Erschui so I could get back to Chiayi City before it got late. I'm not sure why, but I liked
Jiji right away, even though the first glimpse of it was almost as if I had entered a cast off Ripleys Believe it or Not carnival scene ---- rather a strange collection of mismatched artifacts from different c
ultures and different places in history.... including a replica of E.T. adorning the top of one of the first buildings I saw as I left the train station. There was also a snake tamer and what appeared to be some sort of Chinese tomb warriors. Quickly, the appearance of Jiji changed and kept changing further from the tra
in station. In the distance, the mountains were framed by bamboo forests and high on a hill was a huge Buddhist monastery. The streets became empty just a few blocks from the station. Probably the thing that hooked me on Jiji was that so many of the people there were enjoying themselves so thoroughly. Huge authentic smiles were on so many faces that I couldn't help be feel the spirit of t
he place.
On September 21, 1999, a powerful earthquake hit Taiwan killing over 2000 people and causing damage throughout the island. The epicenter was near Jiji, Taiwan. I visited Jiji on December 2 of this year. Earlier this week another strong earthquake hit Taiwan, but it was 
less damaging than the one in 1999 that devastated Jiji and other parts of Nantou County. I'll refrain from telling about the earthquake on December 26 because I haven't entirely worked that one through in my head yet. Let it suffice to say that it altered my perception about a number of things. Anyway.... here are a few photographs from Jiji. While I did see some remaining destruction from the earlier quak
e, I did not photograph it. But at some point I do hope to go back to Jiji and maybe at that time I will be able to photograph some unusual sights. The first mistake I made in going to Jiji was in neglecting to rent a scooter to ride around the town. Instead, I walked. After several hours of walking I realized that it was going to take huge effort to get back to the train station on time to catch my ride to Erschui so I could get back to Chiayi City before it got late. I'm not sure why, but I liked
Jiji right away, even though the first glimpse of it was almost as if I had entered a cast off Ripleys Believe it or Not carnival scene ---- rather a strange collection of mismatched artifacts from different c
ultures and different places in history.... including a replica of E.T. adorning the top of one of the first buildings I saw as I left the train station. There was also a snake tamer and what appeared to be some sort of Chinese tomb warriors. Quickly, the appearance of Jiji changed and kept changing further from the tra
in station. In the distance, the mountains were framed by bamboo forests and high on a hill was a huge Buddhist monastery. The streets became empty just a few blocks from the station. Probably the thing that hooked me on Jiji was that so many of the people there were enjoying themselves so thoroughly. Huge authentic smiles were on so many faces that I couldn't help be feel the spirit of t
he place.
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